myra_musing, posts by tag: environment - LiveJournal

I try to commute to work by bike or bus as much as possible. In part, I commute by bike or bus to "walk the walk" (or ride the walk, uh...whatever!) with regard to reducing global warming. In part, it's to exercise and feel better (again, especially biking, although walking to and from the bus is at least a little bit of exercise). Finally, biking is (for the most part, after purchasing supplies) free. I can't say that about driving (or unfortunately, taking the bus).

( Collapse )

I think I have an eco-crush.

Severn Cullis-Suzuki gives a keynote address at Our Water, Our Future, Nov. 2006 in BC, Canada: http://video.google.com/videoplay?…
And here she is a few (*ahem*) years ago: http://video.google.com/videoplay?…

Short and sweet article: a professor is designing a new type of solar collection cell which is more efficient, potentially reducing the costs of moving to solar power: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/2006112….

"The Vegetable-Industrial Complex" - the source of this post's title.

Also: a black cat crossed my path on the way to work today. Or maybe it was really charcoal...I think it was just running to get out of the rain as soon as possible, not to send my day swirling into the pits of hell. We'll find out, I guess ;)

The Watercone--this idea is simple, efficient, inexpensive and a real breakthrough for people all over the world. In fact, it's so simple, I wonder what took us so long?

In any case: H20, way to go :)

Bicycle taxis overtake matatus (taxi vans) in Kenya: http://www.worldwatch.org/node/3970.

Today I saved 4660 pounds of carbon emissions And so can you. Go to coopamerica.org/go/carbcutter to find out how.

...or at least, I am pledging to do so. The steps are really pretty simple. I will try to put them in action (many I am already taking care of).

I went to see An Inconvenient Truth last night. As I did so, I questioned a lot of things. I've been doing a lot of questioning lately. Read more behind the ( Collapse )

I don't know the answers, but I am glad people are at least talking about the problem. Maybe a small number of people making changes won't matter. Maybe it won't be enough. But will it hurt to try? What is the alternative?

Sometimes, even doing the things you want to be doing can seem like a really frustrating pain in the ass.

I'm getting more into the idea of sustainability, and have been trying to take small steps in that direction. I made a trip out to a natural foods store this afternoon during my lunch break. I decided that there must be one in Harrisburg; they couldn't all be across the river. Indeed, when I looked further there was! And, not far from my therapist's office. So I decided to take the scenic route out there. I made it there in about 15 minutes, still, which wasn't bad considering I was going between 25-40 mph the whole way. At the store, I wanted to have more time to take in what was there and what wasn't, but I knew I didn't have time for that, so I had a sort of mentally dizzying journey up and down the aisles. The selection there was bigger than at the place I went to in New Cumberland but smaller than that in the Mechanicsburg store I've been to. Still, while they had some cool stuff, they didn't have exactly what I was looking for, so I bought a few things (including some organic pears) and left feeling frustrated.

I didn't want to get on the highway in my frustrated state, so I figured I'd go up the road, and take another local-ish route. I realized I was actually getting further from my house and thought I should have planned this all better, but as I'd already committed myself at that point, I kept going. I hit light after light and had to deal with more general frustration. As I bit into the pear I noticed it was from Argentina. Yeah, it's organic, but how sustainable is importing a pear from South America? Argh. Should have checked that in the store.

As the clock on the dash advanced inexorably toward the end of my lunch hour, I reached for my cell phone. I called my co-worker and told her I'd be 10-15 minutes late. She had taken off earlier in the day for a doctor's appointment on short notice, so I didn't think she could be that upset with me being flaky, too.

I thought about how much easier all this had been in the Netherlands. Even in a hicktown/small city there, I was able to bike everywhere I needed to go locally, get a variety of organic/vegetarian/vegan food in supermarkets and city markets, visit secondhand stores and even move the contents of my apartment on an open wooden box with a bike attached. Ok, my ex had to steer the thing, but still. If I needed to go anywhere non-local, there was always the bus and the train. If I had money, I could still have had things delivered.

Being a "good guy" here seems like way too much trouble sometimes. But at least I know the frustration is worth it, unlike the frustration at my job.

A word I was searching for in conversation with S. the other day appears to have been coined before I was born: speciesism.

I've spent most of the morning stopping and starting this (long, but worthwhile) documentary, "Earthlings," posted by one of S.'s lj friends.

As I watch it, I realize my own complicity. I would like to say I am so disgusted by what I am seeing (although I had heard about, read about, and even seen parts before) that I will turn my life around tomorrow. However, I know that that will probably not be possible. We should, at least, know what we're doing. This is another chapter in the book of general American, and global, ignorance.

Update: Here is the main site for the film: http://www.isawearthlings.com/